Tag Archives: pipe refurbishing

Restoring a Savinelli Hercules Billiard

Blog by Steve Laug

This pipe came to me as a fund raising donation for Smokers Forums. The donor wanted this and other pipes he sent cleaned up and restored then sold for the support of Smokers Forums. This pipe is a large Hercules Billiard made by Savinelli. It is stamped Hercules on the left side of the shank and on the right it read 111EX over Italy. This big pipe had some stunning grain. It would clean up very well. The finish is dull and dirty with grime but the briar is in excellent condition with no dents or flaws. There was a thick and uneven cake in the bowl and the overflow of lava on the rim was also heavy. In my experience the thick lava on the rim generally protected the rim from damage. The inner bevel on the rim and the edge was also undamaged. The stem was oxidized. The stamping on the stem shows well in the photo below but it was actually very light and faint. It would be virtually impossible to save it once it soaked and was cleaned up. It was almost like a decal applied to the stem rather than stamping.

I reamed the bowl back to bare wood to remove the crumbling and uneven cake with a PipNet reamer. I started with the smallest cutting head and worked my way up to the diameter of the bowl.

I worked on the buildup on the rim with 0000 steel wool. Working it around the rim I was able to remove all of the tar and lava without damaging the finish. I scrubbed the exterior of the bowl with acetone on cotton pads to remove the grime and the wax buildup. I believe these pipes had an oil finish originally and were not stained. The grime came off easily and the grain just popped!

I cleaned out the interior of the bowl and the shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol until they came out spotless. I also folded each pipe cleaner and swabbed out the inside of the bowl to remove the dust and particles left behind by the reaming.

I gave the stem a light sanding with 220 grit sandpaper and then with a medium and fine grit sanding sponge to remove the oxidation. I worked carefully around the stamping to see if I could preserve it. So far so good on that point.

I worked on the stem with micromesh sanding pads to remove the rest of the oxidation and to polish the stem. The first 1500 grit micromesh literally obliterated the stamping. That kind of thing bugs me but I can’t go back and change it. The decal/stamping was gone. I wet sanded the stem with 1500-2400 grit micromesh pads and then rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil. I dry sanded with 3200-4000 grit pads and gave it another coat of oil. I finished with 6000-12000 grit pads and gave the stem a final coat of oil and let the oil dry before taking it to the buffer.

I gave the bowl a light coat of olive oil and rubbed it in. I let it absorb over night. In the morning I buffed the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond and then gave both multiple coats of carnauba wax to protect. I buffed it with a clean flannel buffing pad to raise the shine then finished by hand buffing with a microfibre cloth. The only flaw in the process was the removal of the stamp/decal on the stem. For that I apologize. Otherwise the pipe is a stunning piece of craftsmanship. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. I think this pipe will be a great smoker for whoever decides to add it to their rack.

First in Flight: Refurbishing and Restemming a Falcon #4

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Blog by Anthony Cook

I had never smoked a metal pipe before, but I was curious. I liked the idea of interchangeable bowls, especially when dealing with stronger and “ghostlier” blends (I’m looking at you, Lakelands). So, when this Falcon #4 showed up on eBay I put in a low bid that luckily turned out to be the winning one. I knew from the seller’s photos that the pipe was going to need a bit of work to get it into shape, but I was still in for a few surprises.

When it arrived, I could see that the aluminum frame was in good shape. There were several small dents and scratches, but nothing that would affect the smoking qualities of the pipe. The nylon stem (or, “bit” in Falconese), however, must have really suited someone’s taste because had been chewed so badly that it was crushed and the airway was almost completely closed. The larger, pot-shaped bowl was in fair condition with some tar build-up and a few scratches on the rim, but the smaller Dublin/apple-shaped bowl was charred and almost beaten to death around the rim. Luckily, the threads on both bowls were still in good shape and they would screw tightly to the frame.

Here are a few photos of the pipe as it was when it arrived:

The first order of business was to remove the stem, since there was no way that it would work in its condition. Thankfully, Al (upshallfan) offered to send me another one that was in better shape. Removing a Falcon stem is easier said than done though. They’re intended to be a permanent part of the pipe.

I turned to the forums in the hope of finding someone who had done it before and had developed a reliable removal method. I received several suggestions and tried them all with no luck. In desperation, I decided to try to heat the stem in boiling water. I knew from past experience that nylon would blister and burn all too easily when exposed to high heat, but I thought that this method might heat the stem slowly and gently enough to avoid that risk. Surprisingly, it worked like a charm! After about 20 minutes of submerging the stem in boiling water, not only was I able to remove the stem, but the aluminum smoke tube came out as well. That would make cleaning and polishing the frame much easier. After soaking the frame in alcohol for about 30 minutes, I cleaned out the interior. Without a doubt, this was the easiest cleanup job that I have ever done on a pipe. That’s not to say that it wasn’t dirty. This was obviously a well smoked pipe, but the grime came away easily from the nonporous aluminum. It took only three pipe cleaners (two for the airway and another folded one to scrub the cup) and an old toothbrush (for the threads) to completely clean the frame. The bowls were next on my to-do list. I reamed them both back to bare wood so that I could see what I was dealing with, and then I placed them in a jar of isopropyl alcohol to soften the build up on the rim and strip the finish. An hour or so later, I removed them and used a soft cloth to scrub away the remaining finish and grime.

I set up my topping surface to sand out the scratches on the rim of the larger bowl and level the uneven rim of the smaller one. I lightly topped the larger bowl first with 220-grit paper, and then with 320-grit until the scratches were gone. I started to top the smaller on the smaller one, but the condition of the rim was so bad that chunks of it began to fall out as I worked. I could see that was going to be a losing battle and decided that if I couldn’t beat ‘em, I’d join ‘em.

I used a Dremel with a sanding drum to bevel the inner rim of the smaller bowl back as far as the deepest gouge. I was only doing some rough shaping at that point to create the general depth and angle of the bevel. Then, I used 220-grit and 320-grit paper to clean things up and further refine the shape. After that, I lightly sanded the surface of both bowls with 220-grit and 320-grit paper to remove most of the scratches and dings. Once the heavy lifting was complete on the bowl cosmetics, I turned my attention back to the stem. The stem that Al had sent me was in much better shape than the original, but it was still badly chewed. It also wouldn’t pass a cleaner, which seems to be an issue with Falcon pipes in general. They make thinner cleaners specifically for Falcons, but I don’t like the idea of having to buy something else just to overcome a design flaw. So, I decided to try an experiment to see if I couldn’t open up the airway and remove much of the chatter all in one shot.

I had noticed earlier that the boiling water had not only loosened the original stem, but it also appeared to raise the dents to some degree. It wasn’t enough to save it, but I found it surprising all the same since I’d had no luck lifting dents in nylon with heat previously. I thought I’d try it again with the replacement stem. I rigged up a simple suspension mechanism with some string, a hex nut, and a wooden spoon, and then put the stem into a pot of boiling water. After nearly about 40 minutes of being submerged, there was some slight improvement but not enough to make much difference. So, I called an end to the experiment and decided that the method wasn’t worth the effort. I have a suspicion that there was some harm done to the stem with this method however, and I’ll talk more on that later. The constriction in the airway extended about ¼” behind the button. So, I decided to drill the airway out from the slot end. The airway was so tight that I had to start cutting through with a 3/64” bit and work my way up to a 3/32” bit. I tested the draw and it was good, and then I tested with a cleaner and it would pass, but it still needed a bit of force to get through the tight area. The stem wouldn’t take a larger bit, however, and I had to be satisfied with what I had. I finished up the work on the airway by cleaning up the slot and giving it a slight funnel with some sandpaper, needle files, and sanding needles.

In the photo below, you can see one of the drill bits chucked into a Dremel, but I never actually used the motor. That would likely have been a disaster. Instead, I used the Dremel to stabilize the bit while I turned the stem over it. The mechanics of the stem had been addressed and it was time to start working on the cosmetics. I used a course, flat needle file to score the surface of the stem, applied black CA glue to the indentations, and sanded it back with 220-grit paper once it was dry. Then, I began to rebuild the button. I wrapped clear tape around the area behind the button to create a sharp edge and applied more CA to the button to build up the surface. I used 220-grit paper to sand the CA back and start shaping the button after it had completely dried. When the shape was vaguely buttonish, I began to clean the edges and remove more chatter from the stem, first with 320-grit, and then with 400-grit paper. I lightly sanded the entire surface of the stem with 600-grit and 1200-grit paper to smooth it out and remove the seams and molding artifacts from the sides. Then, I polished the stem with Micro-Mesh pads 1500-grit through 12000-grit and used a drop of mineral oil to lubricate the stem between every three grits.

Remember when I mentioned something about the heat of the boiling water doing harm to the stem? This is where that comes into play. I had noticed that the stem felt different under the paper as I was sanding it. The higher the grit, the more noticeable it became. The surface felt normal to the touch, but it kind of grabbed at the sandpaper and pads and gave some resistance as they slid across, almost like it was gummy. It was unlike any nylon stem that I had ever worked with before and I believe that submerging it in boiling water changed the surface in some way. I’m just making a guess, of course, but in the end I wasn’t able to achieve the level of glossy shine that I had with previous nylon stems and I doubt that I’ll be trying the boiling method again. You can see the finished stem in the photo below. The stem was out of the way. So, it was time to get back to the bowls and start wrapping this pipe up. I wanted each bowl to have a slightly different color. So, I used a heat gun to heat the briar and open the grain, and then applied a 3:1 mix of isopropyl alcohol and Fiebing’s dark brown dye to the larger bowl and the same ratio with mahogany dye to the smaller bowl. After hand buffing with a soft cloth and sanding the surface of both bowls with 400-grit and 600-grit paper to remove most of the dye except for what was in the grain, I gave the larger bowl a medium brown stain and the smaller one an oxblood stain using the same ratio of stain to thinner as before. Then, I hand buffed again and sanded each bowl with 1200-grit and gave them both a light Tripoli buff. Both bowls received one final stain; buckskin for the larger one and British tan for the smaller. They were hand buffed again to remove the excess stain, and then polished with Micro-Mesh pads 3200-grit to 12000-grit.

Before reassembling the pipe, I polished the frame with Semichrome polish and buffed the stem and bowls with White Diamond compound on the buffer. I put everything back together (it went easily) and applied several coats of carnauba wax with the buffer. Finally, I applied a bowl coating to both bowls to give them some protection until they could build a little cake. You can see the completed pipe in the photos below.

And here are a couple of shots of the other bowl… I’m still not happy with the stem on this one and I’m sure that I’ll be replacing it sometime in the future when there aren’t other pipes that need attention. For now, though, it serves its purpose well. I’ll admit that I was a little skeptical of the metal pipe concept, but this pipe smokes wonderfully and I can see many more Falcon bowls and a few more metal pipes in my future. Thanks for checking it out!

Cleaning up my Budapest Pipe Find – A Parker of London Earl 576 Bent Dublin

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Blog by Steve Laug

On my recent trip to Budapest I visited several of the pipe shops that I found when I was there five years ago. The experience was sad in that much has changed and the pipe and tobacco selection has greatly diminished. I was in the Gallwitz Shop and looked at their estate pipes. I turned several over in my hands before leaving and not buying any. I walked about a block before I got to thinking that this would probably be the last time I was in that shop and if the downward turn of pipeshops in Budapest continued it might not last. I turned around and went back to the shop and purchased a small bent Dublin that is stamped on the left side of the shank, Parker of London. On the right it is stamped Earl and on the underside it bears the shape number 576. I have included a photo I took on my phone of the pipe and some of my other finds that day. The pipe was in decent shape. It had quite a few fills on the right side of the bowl and a long narrow fill on the underside of the shank that had shrunk and left a groove. The rim had a lot of grooves and damage that had been waxed over. The bowl was out of round but was clean. The inside of the shank and stem were still pretty dirty. The original stem was loose but relatively clean with no tooth marks and the faint diamond P logo on the top of the saddle. There was some minor oxidation in the crease at the button and the surface of the stem had some scratches that had not polished out. On the underside of the stem there were some bits of metal that were in the mix of the rubber stem. I know that in the war years the rubber used for stems was recycled so I am thinking that this one may come from that era. When I got home from Budapest I took the following photos of the pipe to show what it looked like when I began.

I also took a few close-up photos of the rim and the stamping on the shank. To me there is a quiet elegance to this shape. You can see the rim damage and the inner edge damage in the first photo below.

I worked on the inner edge of the rim with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I wanted to even out the inner edge and minimize the out of round look. I gave it a slight bevel to get rid of the damage. In doing so I did not particularly care that I scratched the surface of the rim because I planned on topping it lightly to remove the damage.

I topped the bowl on a topping board to remove the deep scratches and damaged areas on the surface of the rim.

I sanded the rim with a medium and a fine grit sanding sponge. I then sanded it with 1500-2400 micromesh sanding pads to polish the rim. I then stained it with the staining pens – starting with the lightest colour and gradually working my way up to the darkest colour. I worked to blend it into the same colour as the bowl and shank. The long worm shaped fill on the bottom of the bowl needed to be refilled. I decided to use clear super glue and no briar dust as the groove was not very deep. I filled it and let it dry. I sanded the repair with micromesh sanding pads until it blended into the surface of the briar. It is smooth to the touch now and is better blended into the surface of the briar.

I rubbed down the bowl and shank with a light coat of olive oil and then buffed it with a microfibre cloth to raise a bit of a shine.

I worked on the oxidation on the stem in the crease with micromesh sanding pads. I wet sanded with 1500-2400 grit pads. I scraped the groove in the crease with a dental pick and then sanded it until it was smooth. I rubbed it down with Obsidian Oil and then dry sanded with 3200-4000 grit pads, reoiled it and then finished sanding with 6000-12000 grit pads. I gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil and then let it sit until the oil had been absorbed into the vulcanite.

I buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond and then gave it multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed it with a clean flannel buff to raise the shine. I took it back to the work table and buffed it by hand with a microfibre cloth. The finished pipe is shown below. It is cleaned and ready to use. It should give many years of good service now that it is clean. Every time I pick it up I will think of the Gallwitz shop and the changes that it went through from the first time I visited until this past time. The sad changes will go through my mind for a long time.

Finally with Al’s help I picked up a PETERSON’S KAPRUF 9BC

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Blog by Steve Laug

The other day Al Jones sent me a quick message about a pipe that he knew I was looking for. It was a pipe shape that I have been looking for since Mark Irwin wrote up his blog on the Peterson 9B shape. Al had found one from a Russian seller that was stamped PETERSON’S KAPRUF 9BC over LONDON MADE ENGLAND on the underside of the shank. The seller described it as follows on the EBay sale: Used pipe, smoked. Chamber reamed slightly, moderate heat crackling. Refurbished top of the bowl. Air passage opening is well centered and bottomed in the chamber. P-lip stem is clean and buffed, faint occasional oxidation, light traces of removed toothmarks. Markings on the pipe are buffed but visible: “PETERSON’S “KAPRUF” LONDON MADE ENGLAND 9BC” on the bottom of the shank. Stem has no markings or logos. It had a nice sandblast finish. The only deviation from online photos of the sandblast version of the pipe that I had seen was the smooth rim on the bowl. The seller’s comment above in bold – “Refurbished top of the bowl” makes me wonder if he had not topped the bowl in his clean up of the pipe. I am not certain if he had topped the bowl or not but if he had done so, he had done it very well. The light stain on the rim matched the light portions on the pipe as a whole at the shank and on the high points in the blast.

Included in the description was information that in the past I seemed to ignore and had paid for by the surprise of a larger or smaller than expected pipe. This time I read it and it fit my general expectations and current collecting habits.
Dimensions (approximate):
Length 4-15/16″ (125 mm)
Height 1-7/8″ (47 mm)
Bowl depth 1-3/8″ (35 mm)
Bowl width (top) 1-5/8″ (33 mm)
Chamber opening 3/4″ (19 mm)
Weight 2.05 oz (58 grams)

The pipe arrived while I was traveling and Al had included some generous samples of tobaccos to try out in this “new to me” pipe. It came clean and ready to smoke. The condition of the pipe is superb. The finish is in excellent shape. The blast is rugged and the stain contrasts highlight the depth of the cragginess. The rim and the smooth bottom of the shank match well in terms of colour of the stain. The stampings were faint, caused either by the age of the pipe and the years of buffing that had occurred. It also could have been over buffed by the seller, but I am inclined to think otherwise due to the care with which he worked over the rest of the pipe. The stem is in great shape with no tooth marks and a deep gloss other than the slight oxidation of the stem where it meets the shank. There is no P stamp on the stem but I am pretty sure that the stem is the original. The internals are spotless and the bowl has a slight smell of tobacco. The fit of the stem to the shank is impeccable with no gap. The bend in the stem is perfect – with age it had neither straightened nor become over bent. It was precisely as had been advertized. I can’t tell you how surprised I was to find that it matched the description. Too often these days I purchase an estate pipe that has been “refurbished” only to find that the pipe was filthy on the inside.

I took a few pictures of the pipe with the stem removed to illustrate the condition of the pipe. I literally had nothing to do in terms of cleaning up the pipe. I would need to work on the oxidation on stem but other than that it was flawless.

Since the only thing that remained for me to do on this beautiful pipe was the oxidation on the stem I decided to tackle it immediately. I sanded it with a medium and a fine grit sanding sponge to remove the oxidation. I then wet sanded the stem with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads and then rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil. I dry sanded with 3200-4000 grit pads and gave it another coat of oil and then finished sanding with 6000-12000 grit pads and gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil.

I buffed the stem with Blue Diamond on the wheel and then gave the stem several coats of carnauba wax to seal and protect it. I buffed it with a clean flannel buff and then hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth. The finished pipe is shown below. The oxidation is far better. The pipe looks good to my eye. The blast is stellar. Now all that remains is to fire this one up with one of the blends Al sent.

Repairing a Broken Shank on an LHS Park Lane DeLuxe — Lovat 12

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Blog by Steve Laug

I came home from a two-week work trip to Berlin and Budapest to find a package from Troy Wilburn waiting for me. It contained a beautiful little LHS Park Lane De Luxe Lovat shape 12 that we had been speaking about before the trip. I am a sucker for LHS pipes and really like the Park Lane series as they have a quiet elegance about them. The shank on this one had broken near the bowl. Fortunately it was a clean break and not splintered or chipped. The repair on these has become pretty straight forward for me. I have learned a few tricks in joining the parts of a broken shank together from the Frankenpipes that I have crafted. That was their purpose and their schooling has paid off on quite a few of these shank repairs for me. The Park Lane had a Bakelite stem (at least I think it is Bakelite as it feels and acts different from Cumberland). The next two photos show the snapped shank.

Just as I suspected I had a piece of brass tubing that was the perfect size and fit for the repair. I used a file to cut grooves into the tube and to roughen the surface for the glue to have something to hold onto when I glued it in the shank.

I cleaned out the airway on both sides of the broken shank to remove debris and to give a good clean surface for the glue to bond with. To check the size and the fit of the tube in the two parts of the shank I inserted it in the bowl end of the break and then twisted the shank end onto it. The fit was perfect and once glued the repair should be solid. I mixed some epoxy and applied it to the metal tube being careful to not get any inside of the airway. I inserted it into the bowl side of the break. I left slightly over half of the tube extending so that when I put the shank piece in place there would be enough of the metal tube to strengthen the repair on that end.

When the epoxy set and the tube was solidly in place I painted some more of the epoxy on the opposite end of the tube and a little on the briar surface of each side of the break. I have learned not to overdo the glue on the briar as it is a pain to remove from the wood when it dries. I twisted the shank piece in place, lined it up and pressed it in place against the bowl side. I held it firmly until the quick set epoxy set and that portion of the repair was finished.

I pushed some fine briar dust into the small space that remained around the surface of the crack and then filled it with clear super glue. I applied it with the point of a dental pick so as not to get too much glue on the briar.

I sanded the repaired area carefully with a folded piece of worn 220 grit sandpaper to remove the excess glue and briar dust from the patch. Then I sanded with a fine grit sanding sponge to remove the scratches. I used a medium brown coloured stain pen to touch up the sanded area around the patch. I cleaned out the shank with a pipe cleaner to make sure that there was no glue in the tube.

The stem was slightly under clocked. I heated the stinger with a lighter until the glue in the stem softened and then carefully screwed it into the shank while holding the shank. I was able to align it perfectly with the shank. With that completed, the repairs to the pipe were finished. The stem was in the right position. The cracked shank repaired and strengthened with an inner tube. All that remained was to clean up the surface of the pipe and give it a coat of stain to blend in the sanded areas around the repairs. I also needed to do some work on the stem with micromesh to raise the shine and polish the Bakelite. (I rarely use the buffer on these older LHS stems as I do not want to risk it. I would rather polish them by hand than damage them.)

I wiped the bowl and shank down with alcohol on a cotton pad to remove the grit and grime on the surface of the bowl and to remove the remaining finish.

I cleaned off the tars on the stinger with 0000 steel wool. I wet sanded the stem with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads and then rubbed it down with Obsidian Oil. I continued to dry sand the stem with 3200-4000 grit pads and then gave it another coat of oil. I finished with the final three grits of micromesh – 6000-12000 – and gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil. Once the oil dried I gave the stem some coats of Paragon Wax and hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth.

I gave the bowl a rubdown with some olive oil and then buffed it out. I touched up the light areas of the stain on the repaired shank with a dark stain pen and then rubbed a little more oil onto the shank. I buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond and then gave it several coats of carnauba wax. I buffed it with a clean flannel buff and then hand buffed it with the microfibre cloth. The finished pipe is shown below. I am hoping to put it in the mail later today or tomorrow to get it back to Troy.

There was some light damage to the rim surface. I decided to leave it alone as it was not enough to top the bowl. It gives character to this old pipe.

A No-Account, Son-of-a-Gun, Sorry Excuse for a Bent Billiard

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Guest Blog by Robert M. Boughton
Member, North American Society of Pipe Collectors
http://www.naspc.org
http://www.roadrunnerpipes.com
http://about.me/boughtonrobert
Photos © the Author

“Pipes are like dogs: the smokin‘ man’s best friend. Why, you can cuss at ’em, shout out loud about the state of the world to ’em, carry on all you like ’til yer blue in the face an‘ sore in the jaw about how great the whole place would be if only you was in charge, heck, even put ’em out of mind and ignore ’em altogether…for a while. In fact, a perfectly good, loyal pipe, same as an old coonhound, will even put up with a might mess of outright scandalous behavior an‘ never even consider turnin‘ on you – say, like as if the dog was to chomp off yer ignorant head or the pipe up an‘ went to dumpin‘ hot, burnin‘ ash in yer lap all on its own…But Heaven help the man that treats either his pipe or dog like garbage to be thrown in the dumpster or a bug to be stomped on. He’ll end up with a companion called Cujo if it doesn’t find a better master in time to escape. The pipe or the dog, that is.”
― The Author, in “Musings of a Mind Bored Silly by a Roommate with ADHD Who Just Doesn’t Know the Meaning of Silence Is Bliss,” today

INTRODUCTION
My friend, Phil, he’s a heck of a nice guy. He’s a real big fella – six-three, 280 pounds or right there in the ballpark – and one of the smartest dudes you could ever meet. Now by smart I’m not implicating he’s got some big old stuffy nansy-pansy degree from any of your fancy-schmancy Poison Ivy Universities, with a capital U, back east somewheres, or anyplace else, for all that matters. What would he need with some piece of paper, outside of hangin it one of his walls? Now that’s the day I’d like to see! And if he was the type to frame up a piece of paper all marked with gibberish scrawling like the tests I used to get back from my teachers when I was just a young buck, where do you suppose he’d hang it? I’ll tell you, I will! Right in the throne room, direct across from where he’d be sitting to ponder what the heck good it does him, and other earth-shaking notions and such.

No, boy! Phil’s smarts are part on account of he was born that way, with a genius IQ is my guess, and the other part from all the books and fancy magazines he reads. Plus old Phil, why, he never watches regular TV; doesn’t even own one, not counting this huge thin flat monster that rightly belongs on a wall like I’ve seen at some of the old-timey stores you can still find at the mall, only he connects it to his computer with nary a cord somehow, and that’s how he likes it. Hooks it up to his little old lap computer right through the air with what he calls Wi-Fi and something else that goes by Blue Teeth or Blue Fairy or whatever. Anyhow, whatever kind of magic it is he does to make all this confounded tech-nol-o-gy happen that bring all of his gadgets, not just the TV monster but his walk-around pocket phone and even this genuine Made in China nineteen-hundred and seventies-era Ghetto Blaster he has, work together – well, it’s something else, and how! Why, it’s like he’s at Carnegie Hall in New York City, or at least that’s what I hear tell. Personally, I went to the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville once when I was a kid, and that was good enough for me.

Now, to get to the meat and potatoes of this little fireside story, my friend Phil, he’s a good man, and he’s also one heck of a carpenter. When it comes to woodwork, why, there aint a thing he doesn’t know about all the woods ever grown, and how to build a custom home, with balloon walls and the works, from the ground up – and up and up – and pretty much all by himself. He’s as comfortable with his tools, from his cat’s paw and level to a pettibone, as he is with his own big mitts. And when it comes to the strength and soundness of the whole enchilada, Phil just pretends to listen to all the back-seat drivers, even if it’s the new owner! And you can bet all the money in your sock old Phil won’t take any guff from some pissant, oil-palmed CCI snagger with his eyes out for left-over parts to pilfer more than finding any real faults with the job. Yessir, Phil knows his stuff, from cripples to “A” Braces, trimmers, bearing walls and joists. But…

Ain’t there always a but? Well, Phil’s but is that for all he knows about wood and carpentry, he doesn’t have a bull pucket of a clue about restoring tobacco pipes, even if it’s a fair shake he could whip one up that would be right-on engineering-wise and even show his own, one-of-a-kind style. He’s even told me a few of his ideas, and they sound pretty clever and original. Only, as far as using a wood that wouldn’t give him rashes or boils or even the Big C, and staining the shapely wonder with something other than a nice, thick, shiny, Chinese-style lacquer that would leave the wood Code Red as far as breathing goes, he’s, well, clueless. And then there’s all the taking care not to forget to tuck it away all safe and sound instead of setting it on his work table with all of his sandpapers and rasps and drill bits and other implements of construction that are, what you might say, not Kosher to keep around a frail work of art, plus dropping it and all around banging the thing every chance he gets.

To put it nice, Phil is pretty dang bullheaded when it comes to thinking he can do, make or fix anything, and what’s more, that he’s better than the experts that are here to do it right. And he wouldn’t budge when I suggested he must have had something to do with the billiard’s condition when I got a gander of it. He held to the story that he had nothing to do with it; never touched it, he said, other than smoking it. So I’m sure you all can use whatever cents you had to rub together when you were born and come up with a notion of how dramatic it was for him to – well, ask ain’t the right word – oh, snap! He intimidated that he could use “some advice” on how to fix this no-name, no country but probably Italian bent billiard. Okay, okay, I’m a nice guy, too, and I knew what he was driving at, so when he said it was one of the first pipes I gave him and I said I made it myself, I didn’t want to be rude, but I almost couldn’t help it. One thing is, I’ve never made a pipe in my life nor said I did, even if I have plans to soon; I even bought a nice square block of walnut with grain that’s the bomb and is big enough for two pipes. I figure I’ll go vertical with both of them, seeing as how once I cut it in half I’ll be all-in one way or the other. Anyways, to get back to what I was saying, the other thing is, I did finish a few pre-formed pipes I got my hands on and even made them look pretty smart, if I say so myself, but this here bent billiard wasn’t one of them, no way, no how.

So Phil, he hands the thing to me, and from the second he picks it up from the Blitzkrieg debris that his apartment was full of that day, I saw it was totally FUBAR. I mean, it looked like it was all that could be dug from the rubble of some poor Englishman’s former place of commode during the Battle of Britain after a buzz bomb attack where one of those nasty suckers stopped its buzzing and fell out of the night sky right through his roof before it went off. Okay, so maybe I’m exaggerating, but you get the picture. I’ll tell you, the real shocker to me was that Phil had somehow let this happen when he took real good care of all the other pipes I remembered giving him, including a su-weet, smooth Peterson Aran B11 Bent Brandy I fixed up from my collection and gave to him on his birthday or something after he’d developed a real taste for pipe tobacco. I threw in a sleeve, and he’s kept it the same as the day I gave it to him. Back to the sad billiard, while I’m turning it in my hands, forced to admire the almost total stripping of the wax I told myself had to be there when and if I actually gave him the once proud pipe, not to mention the unbelievable uniformity of scratches all over it that – I kid you not – looked to me to be the work of a man with a careful if twisted plan, Phil even uses that word, plan, just as I’m thinking it! I would have jumped if the awfulness of the billiard’s deformities hadn’t already made me numb all over, like. Here’s my favorite angle. Phil’s going on how he has some plans for it, like re-staining it some special, unknown color and yada-yada-yada, but he’s real quiet like he never gets unless he’s embarrassed and wants to ask a favor, which he doesn’t ever quite get around to doing. Well, I wasn’t born yesterday, and I just keep it in hand until I’m set to leave, and then I ask him all casual, “Hey, Phil, mind if I hold onto this to look it over some more?” And of course he just has to put on like he doesn’t want to, when that was the plan all along, but in the end I walked out the door with the mysterious, thrashed pipe still in my hand.

RESTORATION

I really like three of the things you’ll notice in the first of those photographs: the peculiar piece of cork used for some reason I won’t go into, the chamber chock-full of some leaf and the little improvised piece of paper on the tenon to make it fit right like it did when he got it (whoever gave it to him in the first place).

First off I scooped out all the stuff in the chamber and peeled away the sticky paper on the tenon. Without the paper, here’s a good general idea of how it looked. Now I don’t know about you, but I couldn’t abide with that ghostly remnant of stain, so I set to stripping all of it down to the bone and soaking the bit in an OxiClean bath. I took the wood out of the Everclear after a couple of hours and saw it still need some help removing the old stain. I used 500-grit paper and made the bowl and shank a little better.

And back to the stem for a minute. For a number of reasons, it clearly didn’t fit the shank, and so the motive behind the cover-up with paper. The OxiClean didn’t do much other than get rid of a whole lot of dirt and other mess inside and out, but this is a better view of the tenon and how someone had undercut it at the bottom and generally made a mess of the whole try at making it fit right in the shank. I suppose Phil had nothing to do with that, too.

Other than replacing the whole stem, a plan I wasn’t keen on seeing as how it was going to be for free, I figured I could mend it another way. I sanded it all over with 200-grit paper before putting the 400 to it and micro-meshing as far as I could go, from 1500-12000. With that a done deal, I put a liberal amount of Black Super Glue on the tenon, most of it on the undercut part, to make it all even again. Meanwhile, back to the bowl and shank. The stripping ferreted out more cover-up: the front of the pipe, no big surprise considering it wasn’t proud enough of the results to put a name to it or even the country it came from, had a nice little weed-like patch of holes that needed wood putty.

Since I had some time on my hands while the putty and Black Super Glue finished drying, I smoked my own pipe for a spell. Actually it was one heck of a long spell. But it came to an end, like everything else in this life.

I smoothed the putty real gentle with the old 12000 micromesh and used a brown indelible marker, then an orange one, to make it look a little more natural. Then I put just a thin coat of regular Super Glue over that. I had to get out of my place anyway, so while it dried I did some errands. Heck, yeah, even I have errands to run.

What with the swamp cooler on full-blast, by the time I got home again the Super Glue was good and hard and ready for a smoothing of its own. This time I needed something a little rougher and settled on 3200 micromesh with a respectful light touch. And I’ll be darned if it didn’t just do the trick! The rest of the wood I went the whole nine yards micro-meshing.

One of the ideas Phil had for doing it himself was to use a “different” color. After thinking on it a while, I came up with a mix of Lincoln Marine Cordovan and Fiebing’s brown boot stains – don’t ask me what was going through my head because I don’t remember. Anyways, it worked nice enough, so I flamed it and let it sit to cool before using the 3200 again to clear off the char.

Alright, now, hold your water! I know it! The front view here shows a need for more attention, which you’ll just have to trust me when I say I gave it because I forgot to snap a shot after. Also I sanded down the shank opening so the stem would meet it better. Again, I know it’s not perfect, but this was for free and besides, Phil was starting to breathe down my neck to get it back. Finally I just buffed it up on the wheels with a few waxes.

CONCLUSION
Phil is happy with the job I did – and the replacement cork that fit.

Restoring an LHS Certified Purex #24

7 Replies

Blog by Dave Gossett
This pipe was a pretty straight forward cleanup. It was in overall decent shape. It had some light rim char and the stem was out of alignment. Steve had recently posted an LHS repair with this very problem so it came in handy. I followed his process and sanded the aluminum shank cap gently on a flat sanding board until the stem was in proper position. I can’t imagine they left the factory out of alignment, so I don’t know how they end up like that.

Next I sanded the rim with 1000 grit until I reached fresh briar, and went over the rest of the stummel with 2000 grit to remove the nicks and scratches, then began working my way up the grit ladder until it was smooth.

A quick wipe down with alcohol was applied before adding Fiebings dark brown. I left it to cure for 24 hours. For a nice contrast stain, I lightly mist the briar with alcohol and use a very worn piece of 2000 grit. This removes the dark stain from the soft wood and makes the grain more prominent. After the pipe has been wiped down with a damp cloth to remove the excess stain, it was left to dry and then lightly sanded with micro mesh one last time.

Repairing a hole in the stem of Dr. Grabow 36

8 Replies

Blog by J.D. Dohrer

I am glad to be able to post this first blog by JD Dohrer. He has done a masterful job in repairing this stem. I am hoping he continues to submit blogs to rebornpipes and we can continue to enjoy and learn from his work.– Steve

This is a Dr. Grabow Starfire wire carved large billiard #36. DG Starfires are one of my favorite lines/styles of pipes. I am quite keen on the models that have the metal shank extension. I snagged this one off of ebay for 10 dollars, delivered. I bought it specifically for the hole in the stem. I had been wanting to try my hand at a stem rebuild, especially after seeing the results that Steve and some others here on Reborn had completed.

The following pics are how I received it in the mail. It was actually in quite good condition. The stummel was in nice shape, with just some minor chips on the rim and the typical grime in the wire carving. The stamping was still nice, sharp and deep. The cleaner was even still in the tenon. The stem was in rather good condition even considering the hole that was chewed through the button. The hole was on the underside of the button. Which gave me hope, that if I mucked this up terribly, it would be on the less than visible side of the pipe.

The first thing I did was give the stem a good soaking in ISO 91% alcohol. I then cleaned the interior of the stem with pipe cleaners. Amazingly it only took a couple of pipe cleaners to get rid of the gunk in the stem. I then did some filing around the hole and inside the button. I also cleaned up the edges of the hole and expanded its size a bit. I let the stem soak in oxyclean for a few minutes. I then scrubbed the stem with a scotch brite pad and oxyclean. I wet sanded the stem from 400, 600, 800 and 1500 and got rid of all the oxidation. I took care of some other minor tooth chatter also at this time. I then finished with a good scrubbing and a magic eraser. I then re-cleaned the stem and hole area with 91% and scuffed up the hole.

At this point I made a cardboard backer that I wrapped in scotch tape. I made sure it was a nice and tight fit. As a precaution I also inserted a pipe cleaner in the airway just to cover my butt. Next I opened up a 250mg capsule of activated charcoal. I crushed up the AC as finely as I could, using a medicine measuring cup and a small wax carving spoon type tool. Next I poured a small puddle of black CA glue on a piece of scrap and mixed in some AC. I got it to a pretty thick consistency that didnt drip off my mini trowel tool. I applied in 3 quick layers. The last layer was pretty messy as it was starting to set up but, I got it smoothed out and set it off to the side to dry. The total amount of AC used was probably less than 100 mg. You can see the glue puddle next to the dime. The puddle is smeared around a bit, as this was when I was done applying the glue. Here is dried glue after 16 hours. I filed down the area and then did the same steps again with the wet sanding. The filings were very fine and powdery and the glue sanded very nicely. Now it was onto the easy part. I cleaned/reamed the chamber with a small round blade pocket knife and some 100 grit sandpaper wrapped lengthwise over a Sharpie pen. The caking was very light and I took it down just enough to leave the walls blackened. Now it was time for the draft hole and mortise/shank extension. I figured since the stem was such a breeze, this should be just as easy. I was dead wrong. I used ISO 91%, quite a few pipe cleaners, qtips, shank brush and a small bladed wax carving tool. It was definitely the worse job to do on this pipe. I cleaned the threads and exterior of the shank extension with 0000 steel wool. I then moved onto the cleaning of the exterior of the stummel itself. I used oxyclean and a scotchbrite pad to scrub the exterior. I removed a lot of grime and some of the dye on the higher points of the wire carving. I smoothed out and blended some of the smaller chips in the rim and redyed the stummel. I used 2 parts Fiebings Oxblood and 1 part Fiebings Cordovan. I gave it a couple of good quick coats of dye. I let dry for a few minutes and wiped off any excess. With all the heavy lifting done, it was time for the buffing and waxing. I used tripoli, white diamond and carnauba on the stem. I hit the shank extension with a bit of white diamond. I used a couple coats of Halcyon 2 on the stummel. I then finished up by buffing with a microfiber cloth. Below is the finished product with as good of a close up as I could get with my iphone.

I am pretty dang pleased with myself on how this pipe came out looking. When I started working on pipes, I always made sure that the pipe I was bidding on had a stem that was in good shape. But, after this project, I will seek those pipes out that need some stem work. In fact, I have 3 pipes on their way that need some intense TLC and stem work. I again thank Steve and all the rest on here and DGCF for their postings, tips and ideas. Truly appreciated.

I fired ‘er up last night and ran a bowl of Carter Hall, Chatham Manor and a burley/cavendish blend through it. It smokes just as well as my other Starfires. Its a keeper and it will join with my other 6 Grabow Starfires.

Thanks in advance for checking it out. My picture taking skills are a bit lacking and my iphone does not take the best close up pics. W

I don’t know if I improved this old meer or just made it worse

9 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

Sometimes when I take on a project it is a no win situation. Or at least it appears that way! This is one of those times. In the box of recent pipes that I am working on cleaning up to sell was an older no name meerschaum calabash shaped pipe. The meer was in passable shape – some nicks and scratches and some run over on the rim but it should have been an easy clean up. If you look at the first set of photos below you may well wonder about the comments that follow. It actually looks far worse than the pictures depict. The stem shank joint does not match even though it the photo it looks great. If I went just be the photo I would have been better off to leave well enough alone — still even having the pipe in hand I may have been smarter to just polish and sell it as is.

Here is my diagnosis and the assessment I did that led me to the conclusions that it was worth fussing with the pipe to see if I could at least improve upon it. Starting with the bowl I could see that it was slightly out of round but I am not sure it did not come that way. The whole pipe has a bit of a lopsided look to it – a slant towards the left. I pulled the stem and there were more issues that needed to be addressed. Someone had installed a push tenon and mortise replacement. The mortise insert had not been set all the way into the shank but it had been epoxied in place. The tenon was deeply set into the hollowed out end of the stem to accommodate the lip that had been left on the mortise insert. The end of the push tenon had been cut off at an angle and the end was constricted from the cutter. This seriously hampered the clear airflow through the stem.

At this point you will have to trust my assessment because the pictures do not clearly show a pipe that fits this description. But honestly – the stem was slightly smaller in diameter than the shank so with the fiddling that had been done to the stem it was a loose fit. It was wobbly in the shank. The stem was bent in such a way that it was cocked to the left and just irritated me. Looking back after the fact I can honestly say that at this point I should have made the decision to just lightly clean this one up and let somebody have it as a bargain. I certainly would have saved me a lot of grief as you will see if you follow this tale to the end.

Sadly I have to tell you that what I should have done and what I ended up doing are two singularly different tales. I decided that I could definitely improve the draw on the pipe, clean up the tenon and mortise area, and maybe give the pipe a bit more distinguished appearance. So…I took the Dremel and sanded down the shank to slightly smaller than the diameter of the stem so that I could add a nickel band and dress this pipe up. This is where the first issue became apparent. It became clear that the bowl was pressed rather than block meerschaum. When I removed the “shiny” surface coat the underneath meerschaum was a different, almost tan colour. The shiny coat was like an egg-shell over the tan undercoat. What had been a simple project just changed. I had planned to hand shape the shank to the bowl and remove the new hump that I had created and make the shank a bit more delicate looking and in keeping with the flow of the band and stem. But now, the top shiny coat removal left me with a bit of a dilemma. If I removed more of the shape to bring it into line I would also remove more of the shiny coat. What to do? Honestly at this point I put the pipe back in the box and almost decided to just bite the bullet, buy it myself and scavenge a few parts from it. It looked that bad to me. I left it and cleaned up the Stanwell Volcano Sitter that I posted about earlier on the blog.

After I finished working on the other pipe, I decided to pull the meerschaum out and have another look at it. It was bad. No it was actually worse than that – it was downright ugly. However, I don’t give up easily – though I wonder if in this case I should have. You will have to ask if my stubbornness was a good thing in this case as you read the rest of the process. All I know is that each step I took to improve the pipe ended up making more work for me. Each adjustment led to more adjustments. But at this point, for better or worse, I decided to work on the shape and see what I could do. Maybe I could bring out the shape in such a way that it incorporated the different tan coloured portion of the bowl and the rim. I sanded the shank with 220 grit sandpaper to shape it and round it out. I smoothed out the roughness left behind by the Dremel and worked on the fit of the stem. It was still crooked but at least I could get it to sit straight against the shank and just inside the band. I also lightly topped the bowl to remove the tars and some of the rim damage.

I sanded the pipe outside in the yard while Spencer played so as not to make a mess of white dust all over my work area. I finished the rough shaping and went over it with a medium and a fine grit sanding sponge and a fine grit sanding block before I brought it back inside. Once I had it back at the work table I sanded the shank with 1500 micromesh sanding pads to smooth out the surface and shape it even more. All the sanding was merely fine tuning. It turned out that the “shiny” coat was actually quite thin so you can see the flame like extensions up the shank toward the bowl. The nice thing was that the micromesh was giving the meer a bit of a shine. I worked on the scratches on the stem and fit in the band with the micromesh 1500 grit pad as well and the stem was beginning to shine.

So far what do you think of my major make work project? This is a refurb that did not have to go this way. Those of you who are refurbishing pipes learn from this tactical error and think twice before having the audacity of thinking you can make something better when really all it needs is a quick clean up. You will save yourself a lot of headaches if you learn from my poor example on this “deadly” meer.

Today after work I went back to the meer. I probably should never have touched it again. I am telling you this thing is a nightmare. I removed the stem so that I could heat it and rebend it. I set up things as normal and held the stem about 6 inches above the heat gun. I was worried about melting the plastic stem. I should not have worried about that because I never even had the opportunity to try to bend it. Within seconds I heard a small pop – the stem crack horizontally across the top about an inch from the button. I could not believe it. Now I would have to make a new stem for it. Ah well that should not be a problem. I took out some new push stems to see if they would work in the shank insert in the meer. They were too large. That meant that I would need to pull the shank insert and replace it with another one. The trouble was that it was epoxied into the shank and I could not turn it out of the threads.

That basically left me with one choice. I would need to drill out the existing mortise push insert so I could put a new one in place. I set up the drill with a bit that would work and hand turned the shank on to the bit. It did not take long to drill through the old insert but cleaning out the epoxy in the threads was another story. It was like rock. I decided to use the next size drill bit and just remove the threads. This pipe was now destined for a push tenon on a regular vulcanite stem. That would solve the draw and make the thing a lot better smoking pipe.

Here is a picture of the newly drilled out shank. It is open and clean. I used a small needle file to clear out the debris from the drilling and a wet cotton swab to remove the dust from the walls and base of the mortise. Now I had to turn a tenon to fit the mortise. Again that should have been quite simple. I found a stem in my can of parts that would do the trick and turned the tenon down to the measurements of the mortise. This finally was going great! I should have been warned that another ugly turn in events was about to happen. With the fit perfect I turned the stem into the shank and felt a pop on my fingers. I removed the stem and could see two small hairline cracks in the pressed meer. What made this humorous was that I had just read an email from Troy about how easily pressed meer crack under pressure. No worries the band had already been pressed into place and the crack was contained.

Then I examined it around the other side of the band and on the left side saw some fine spider web like cracks – so tiny that formed an arch from the edge of the band at the top and curved down the side to the bottom. The issues with this old pipe never seemed to end. I cleaned out the crack and used some of the meer powder and superglue to fill in the crack. I sanded the crack with micromesh pads to smooth things out once again. I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to make the fit right. The next series of photos show the improved look – repairs and all.

I put the pipe away and called it a night. To say I was frustrated is probably an understatement. I can’t tell you how many times in this process I came close to throwing the pipe away and scavenging the parts for later use. In the morning I worked some more on the stem to make the stem/band junction smooth. I thought I would take the next two photos of the new stem along side of the original stem to show the changes. The first shows the deep inset of the push tenon in the original. The second photo shows the crack across the top of the stem. It appears as a white line.

At this point I think the pipe looks great! The new stem fits well and the look is improved – from a distance. You can see the repaired crack next to the band on the left side if you look carefully at both pictures. I think that this one will end up staying with me or being a giveaway. It is a shame really as the shape looks far better.

I worked over the stem and the bowl with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil and then continued to sand it through the next three grit pads. I finished the last grit and gave it a final coat of the oil and set it aside to dry.

I buffed the stem and the bowl lightly with Blue Diamond polish and then gave the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth. The photos below show all of the flaws of this old pipe. There is nothing hidden. The small web of cracks on the left side of the shank, the areas on the sides of the rim and on the shank where the shiny coat disappeared when I sanded it are all visible. It is a great looking shape. The stem and the flow of the pipe are greatly improved but it is sadly not one that will be for sale. My improvements ended up making the pipe different from the original. I think the verdict is still out in terms of if I made it better or worse. Maybe it is just a difference in terms of degree of worse! It certainly is a better smoking pipe now. The draw is easy and open so I gained that in the process. I think this one will end up being a shop pipe here. What do you think?

UPDATE: I just came in from sitting int he backyard with my dog giving this pipe an inaugural smoke. I loaded up a bow of Kohlhase & Kopp Easter Edition and enjoyed it for over an hour sitting and watching Spencer play with sticks. It delivers a flavourful smoke with effortless draw. The stem is comfortable in the mouth and I actually enjoyed smoking the pipe. Who knows what it will deliver over the days ahead. Worst case scenario I will have pressed meer to smoke that I will not care about damaging…

An Easy Refurb – A Stanwell Royal Danish 166 – Volcano Sitter

8 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

On to the next pipe in the lot that will be sold for the benefit of Smoker’s Forum online community. It is a beautiful Stanwell Royal Danish shape 166 which is a volcano sitter. It had a gold end plate and narrow band on the shank that was distinctive and tasteful but oxidized. The stem and the shank were drilled for a 9mm filter. It also had the gold S and crown on the left side of the shank. Underneath the surface dirt the pipe had some gorgeous grain. The finish looked to be in great shape with no dings or dents to be found. There are no fills or flaws visible in the briar. The rim had a slight build up of lava and the bowl was caked. It is a deep bowl but somewhat narrow and drilled at an angle toward the shank.

I reamed the pipe with a PipNet reamer and took the cake back to a thin coat on the walls of the bowl.

The mortise and the empty 9mm tenon had some loose debris that led me to believe they would be extremely dirty. I used the 0000 steel wool on the rim and was able to clean off the tar build up and leave the rim spotless. I scrubbed down the bowl with alcohol on cotton pads to remove the grime and get a good view of the grain on this beauty. It was something – not a fill and not a pit in the briar. It was a great piece of briar.

I cleaned out the shank and the 9mm tenon and was surprised how quickly they cleaned up. I expected them to be far worse but the debris was loose inside both and it took very little to swab them out and leave them clean. The stem also was not in bad shape. It is Lucite/acrylic and thankfully that does not oxidize. It had some sticky substance on it that was like the residue from tape and that came off with a little alcohol. I wet sanded the stem with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads and dry sanded with 3200-12000 grit pads.

I used the higher grits of micromesh to work on the gold band and plate until they shone. I buffed the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond plastic polish on the wheel and then gave the pipe multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed it to a shine with a soft flannel buff and then finished by hand buffing it with a microfibre cloth. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. It is one stunning pipe!